Ahhhh, romance. Sometimes, it brings holy matrimony, a buncha kids, and family utopia. Other times, not so much.

On Tuesday, four kids in Texas got an early Valentine’s Day gift in the form of rescue from their abusive, sick parents.

Police responding to a domestic violence call near Fort Worth stumbled onto a disturbing scene: While dealing with a young, fighting couple, the officers heard children crying. Subsequently, they discovered a 5-year-old boy and 4-year-old girl locked inside a 3×5 ft. dog kennel inside the home. Two other boys — ages 1 and 3 — were located on a blanket and in a toddler bed.

All four were malnourished.

County Sheriff Lane Akin explained to the Wise County Register that sustenance had been purposefully kept from the children:

“There was food in the house, but it was locked up where the kids couldn’t get it.”

Paige Harkings and boyfriend Andrew Fabila (biological father to one of the toddlers) — both 24 years old — were charged with four counts of criminal negligence.

According to Fort Worth’s Star-Telegram, the abused youngsters were taken to Cook’s Children Medical Center for examination.

Sheriff Akin described the harrowing sight of the domicile and the little ones:

“It’s pretty well cluttered, it’s unkempt, a lot of stuff in there. It’s a metal shop top building with some living quarters fashioned in one end of it. … This is at the top of the list of worst cases as far as children and how they’re kept.”

There’d been no prior contact between authorities and Harkings/Fabila.

What is going on with people?? The couple’s abuse is startling. However, what’s more stunning is that, had the little girl in the kennel been found 4 years younger, dead and in a dumpster, in New York, a group of legislators would’ve had no problem with it (here).

With that aside, thank goodness the children have been saved. Four kids have been given the gift of a better life’s hope, courtesy of the Forth Worth police department. Well done, officers.

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